Portraits from last century (Selection from)

Project info

Portraits from Last Century was made in the late 1990s. I endearingly referred to the subjects of these portraits as "my feral princes and princesses". These young people – for the most part, "save the forest" warriors for the environment – often used to congregate at the Friends of the Earth café near my studio. I loved the way they presented themselves, especially the girls – sometimes quite tribal, sometimes almost medieval, always with a strong sense of their individual selves. Through the use of colour in this series, I was glancing back to Renaissance portraiture, seeking to infer a sense of timelessness in the work.